In that desolate place all athletes must eventually go in defeat – away from the sound and fury of competition – Andy Murray will find scraps of comfort when he reflects on his Wimbledon campaign.

But not right now. Maybe in a week or so. Or longer. It took him five months to fully recover from the mauling he took at the expert hands of Roger Federer in the final of the Australian Open in January, a fact that was self-evident in his subsequent string of defeats and an uneven tournament in Paris a few weeks ago. But he did tremendously well, on the back of intense physical and mental preparation, to get his tennis back to near its best for these championships – only to collide with Rafael Nadal in one of his ferocious winning moods.

If Murray had caught Nadal before Friday's semi-final, say in the quarters, it might have been a different story. But that is hypothetical; the reality was they were destined to meet near the apex of the competition, which is as it should be – and the better man won.

Murray makes no attempt to dispute that, but in the immediate aftermath of a tense and draining experience he struggled with a swirl of emotions. "For me, it's difficult just now," he said. "When you are out there, you are not focusing on how well [Nadal] is playing. I was just trying to find ways to win. But I am sure he did play great, because when I came off I didn't feel like I played that terrible. When you do get your chances against him, you have to play great tennis to take them.

"That was the main difference; when he was down break points he played great tennis and I didn't on my own serve at the end of the third set. The tie-breaker [in the second set] was pretty crucial. Even after I'd had the set point, I came to the net and he hit a backhand pass off the tape. I can't do anything about that – no way I am saying he was lucky to beat me, but just little things like that don't help when you are trying to beat one of the best players ever. But I know I shouldn't have lost my serve back to back in the third set when I was up a break. I should have had at least taken a set."

That was the story in Melbourne, too. He had a break in the third against Federer and did not cash in. There, it might be put down to his reluctance to risk charging the net, particularly so on one point when the Swiss ballooned a ball invitingly high and Murray chose to let it bounce rather than volley, and the moment was lost.

Here, he moved forward with increasing confidence throughout the tournament and timed his runs against Nadal pretty well. So is it just a gap in quality between Murray and the others near the pinnacle of tennis that he might not be able to bridge? "I am going to have to look at the match, but obviously I am going to have to improve certain things," Murray said. "There are certain things I can do on the court better than Rafa, but there are obviously things that he does that no one else in the world can do.

"I have been hitting my forehand great all tournament, but it needs to get better to be on a par or similar to his. It's a very different shot. I hit the ball a lot flatter, but that's a shot that can cause him problems. If I can hit hard and flat and to his long, spinny strokes it gives me chance.

"I need to play better up at the net; I can serve and volley better. This is the best I have served this year, for sure. I was winning between 75-80% points on my first serve. I didn't have any break points against me from the first set through to the end of the third."

And what now, in this loneliest of times, with Flushing Meadows less than two months away?

Murray said: "I'll try and put the rackets away. I am not great at staying away from the court and the gym, but I need to take a little bit of time off after this. I worked hard in the week before and it's been a long tournament. I need to go and get myself ready for the US Open."